Heatqueen and MyLittleElphie's Wicked Fanfiction Style-Off
by heatqueen
Summary: Two writers. One story. Two very different writing styles placed in direct competition with each other. This is a fanfiction style-off between Heatqueen and MyLittleElphie. Read inside for more details of how this works.
1. Pregnant Gelphie

**Heatqueen and MyLittleElphie's Wicked Fanfiction Style-Off**

**Heatqueen's A/N: Hello everyone! This rather unusual fanfiction idea came about when I was talking to MyLittleElphie about different writing styles and we realised that we are pretty much polar opposites in that regard. She is more of a plot driven writer, whereas I am very character and thought/emotional driven. We wanted to see what would happen if we both wrote the same one-shot in two very different ways, so we decided to have a competition of sorts.**

**Both of us have taken the same basic concept and written it in our own style, without knowing what the other one was doing. We would like you, the readers, to tell us what you think and how they compare. Also, if we get enough interest, there is a chance that we might decide to continue, so if there is anything you would like us to use as the basis for a style-off, please send us your suggestions. Thanks! :)**

**For this very first one, we have used the basic storyline of Galinda being pregnant, with a Gelphie pairing. This is the result. Enjoy!**

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**Heatqueen's fanfiction:**

I have never witnessed birth, but I have been very close.

What I remember is standing outside of a locked door in a corridor, listening to frightened, agonised screams and crying, and heated words between Father, Nanny and the midwife. I was three years old.

It had rained all day and the corridor was cold and I had goosebumps all over my skin. It didn't matter. I was used to it. Most of my time was spent feeling cold when all I had to wear was the same few threadbare dresses I was allowed to possess; all of them as black and thin and sleeveless as each other.

I had been told as much to understand that a new baby was coming. Back then, I had no notion of the mechanics behind it, just that Mother had said it would be painful and not to be frightened when the time came, because it was normal; and so, I wasn't afraid. Don't ask how I remember that, for it's not even the important bit. What's important is what happened after.

The screaming stopped, and everything became deadly silent except for the faint cry of the child. I was curious, and wanted to see the new brother or sister who had arrived, but Father had told me not to interfere. I wasn't even supposed to be down here, but holed up in my bedroom, safely out of the way where no one could see me. I would get to see the new baby later, he'd said – but I didn't care for waiting; I wanted to see it now.

Then, from the other side of the door, came a desperate howl; a long cry of 'Melenaaaaaa!' from my father's throat, and he started to cry; and I stood in absolute silence, wondering why he was upset when he had been so excited about having a new baby. Over the last nine months, he had spent the whole time telling me that the next one wouldn't be a green aberration like me. Had this one turned out green as well? Is that why he was crying?

Time seemed to stretch on. I do not know how long I stood there for, listening to him sob, just that eventually the door opened, Nanny stepped out and ushered me away. I asked her what was going on, but she didn't say anything except that Father would explain later and that I was to remain in my room. She locked the door so that I couldn't get out.

Later, I found out that Mother had died, and that the new baby would never be able to walk. It was my fault, Father said – my fault for making Mother take the milk flowers. If I hadn't been green, she wouldn't have taken the milk flowers to stop the next one from coming out the same. At three years old, I accepted the blame because Father was a grown-up and he knew best.

I carried it with me for the rest of my life.

This is the first time that I will have seen the actuality of childbirth happening. Galinda is four days late and desperate to 'hurry up and deliver the stupid thing before my stretch marks get any worse.' Her words, not mine. I have seen very few stretch marks appear on that milky skin over the entire nine months she's been pregnant. She puts it down to a special lotion she's been rubbing on her belly religiously. I suppose it helps, but I think she got naturally lucky. Somehow ugliness tends to elude her. She continues to be radiant even when she is at her most unkempt – in other words, even now, as she lies in a hospital bed, sweating and in pain, with flushed cheeks and flyaway hair, she still retains the poise and grace of a true Arduenna descendant.

I'm glad that it's her in labour, not me. Not least because my biological functions for such things are a little messy, and not to mention, I would hate to pass on the green skin, but because she's the one who deserves the direct connection to another life form. I will never tell her this, knowing that it will only bring forth fruitless arguments on the subject of my self-worth. With my questionable biology, it was easy to convince her to be the one to take Fiyero's sperm. There would be a far higher chance of pregnancy. And true to that, Galinda did indeed become pregnant shortly after the very first attempt at insemination.

Nature must adore her as much as it hates me.

Once upon a time, I was convinced that I would never become a parent. From the get-go, the idea was absurd. It was as simple as being green, and therefore being single forever. That is literally it. I gave the subject no further thought, but buried it along with a whole bunch of other things that I perceived to be the result of my skin.

One of the most amazing moments of my life was when Galinda asked me to be her girlfriend. The action took place during our second year at Shiz, when we were far beyond our initial loathing of each other. By this point we were truly the best of friends. Joined at the hip, some may say, though I recall that during the first few weeks of our friendship, she did not wish for us to be seen as so 'united'. I told her, at the time, still convinced that I was unworthy of her friendship, that I understood her reluctance to be seen with me, ignoring the fact that deep down, somewhere in my unconscious mind, it hurt very badly. Much later on, when our friendship was more solid, I would look back and realise that I had been desperate for her to drop her insecurity and walk proudly next to me. Despite everything, I wanted to be worthy of friendship.

When Galinda first asked me out, I did not respond well. I was convinced she was delusional, or that it was an awful joke she was playing on me for the pure sake of laughing with her friends about it later. In that moment, I became blind to several very obvious things: Firstly, that Galinda had already broken up with those so-called 'friends'; second, that she had spent a fair bit of time standing up for me; and third, that, despite what I had been told my entire life, I was indeed capable of being loved.

In that one moment, I almost lost her.

I found myself on the edge of confusion and deep despair, desperate for her to be telling the truth, but unable to believe a word of it. At first, I did not intend to reveal a word of my conflicted emotions, but gently lie that I couldn't be with her in that way. My mouth and voice did not comply. As I continued to fail to respond, I saw confusion in her eyes and my resolve weakened. In those beautiful eyes I caught the faintest glimmer of honesty and truthfulness, and all of a sudden, my lack of belief came into question.

Thereafter, now certain that she wasn't lying after all, I questioned how she could love me, with me being the way I am: green, bitter and solitary with a sharp tongue and brash words. I thought that I was only thinking this in my head, but it turns out that I actually spoke my question, because the next thing I knew, she was answering it.

'I don't love only those things,' she said. 'I love your whole person, Elphie. And you're the one who taught me how to do so.'

I almost cried.

Almost. I don't cry much.

I did blush, as much as green people can blush. My cheeks turned darker at any rate. She stroked my cheek and gigged and proclaimed my blush to be one of those many things that she loved. In the days following, she made it her mission to get me to blush as often as possible, often by means of sexual insinuations, which at the time I was unused to (Suffice to say I am quite used to them now, thanks to her).

I was convinced it wouldn't last. It seems that I was quite determined to put up resistance after resistance where our relationship was concerned. Not because I didn't love her, but because of who I was. I got caught in many negative thought processes, during which I would decide that I could never be good enough for the mighty Galinda Upland of the Upper Uplands, descendant of the Arduenna and Upland blood lines and a fine, respected lady of Frottica. She was a woman of class. I was a green monster. Something was bound to go wrong. It had to, because things never worked out the way I wanted.

It turns out that the one thing that did go wrong was brought about by a self-fulfilling prophecy. I became so wrapped up in negativity that in the end, I was the one pushing her away and not the other way around. During this dark time, it was _her_ who got us back, _her_ who rescued the relationship. Her faith and optimism won out over my deep darkness; and thus, we were reunited.

We have been reunited to this day, so now, here I sit in an uncomfortable hospital chair by Galinda's bedside as she endures the last few hours of a horrifically long labour. We are in the thirty-eighth hour and it hasn't been easy. There has been scarcely a few hours' sleep between the two of us; Galinda's contractions have seen to that. They have been coming more frequently and painfully, and now, here we finally sit, almost at the point of her being ready to push, her eyes squinting tightly with every onset of pain, her nails digging into the thin hospital mattress.

I wonder if this is what it was like when Mother gave birth to me. Would she have felt like this? Would her labour also have been close to forty hours? At the time, she wouldn't have known I was green. I wonder what she would have imagined instead. A beautiful pink thing coming out of her, ready to be doted on by two loving parents. She must have gotten the shock of her life when I came out. Well, who wouldn't?

I like to think that she loved me a little more than Father does. Father treats me frostily at best, but I have a few very vague memories of my mother from when I was a toddler. Little things like the sound of her voice when she used to sing around the house and the fact that her touch is one of the only ones I can remember prior to Galinda's. I wonder if my life would have been different if only she'd survived. Would I have grown up a happier person? I guess I will never know.

Still, at least I have found my own happiness with Galinda. I am certain that without her, I would be a much worse person than I am today. Perhaps I would have given into the bitterness and ended up not much more than a wicked old witch. Perhaps I would have succumbed to the pain that comes with a lifetime of loneliness, and thus wouldn't be here at all. I don't know, because that is not the case. It is a fact that I, Elphaba, Thropp Third Descending (though I rejected the title of Eminent Thropp; Nessarose is far better suited to it than I), am happy.

And today that happiness will be completed by the child that comes into our life and completes the beautiful picture of our love. The final puzzle piece, if one was to use a cliché. The pain and sweat and tears of labour will be diminished by the joy that should have been present when Nessa and I were born. This time there will be cries of happiness and celebrations.

The minute Galinda and I decided to have children, I came to a decision. No child of mine, no matter how they turn out, no matter the colour of their skin or whether they're disabled or otherwise imperfect, will ever feel like they're not good enough. They will never spend their lives questioning every bit of happiness that comes their way. They will never feel like they're destined to be alone.

I thought I was, and I was wrong; and realising I was mistaken was painful. But the beautiful life I have that came about as a result was worth it.

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**MyLittleElphie's Fanfiction:**

Glinda desperately clutched the side of the tub as yet another strong contraction gripped her stomach. With her jaw clenched and her eyes squeezed shut, she tried her best to ride out the wave of pain coursing through her body, which was already tired and worn from the long hours of labour.

Suffering in her own way as she was confronted with a profound sense of powerlessness, Elphaba had no other option but to watch the blonde in her agony. She sat beside the birthing pool, gently kissing and stroking her wife's hands. The lights were dimmed, soothing music played somewhere in the background and the sweet fragrance of vanilla scented candles filled their bedroom. Elphaba had carried out Glinda's instructions meticulously; however, she was not quite certain whether the supposedly relaxing atmosphere was even remotely as effective as the instructor of their birth preparation class had promised it would be.

"Elphie!" Glinda wailed, close to tears. "Make it stop, please!"

"Don't forget to breathe, my sweet," was all Elphaba knew to reply, having already gone through all of her more invigorating motivational speeches earlier that day.

All things considered, she was tremendously proud of how Glinda had handled the entire ordeal so far – and without any anaesthetics at that. She was not much of a screamer, they had found out. In contrast to what they had always seen in movies or on TV, the blonde endured the pain rather quietly, only occasionally giving in to the urge to cry out. Angee, their midwife, who was silently sitting in a corner, granting them as much privacy as possible, had praised the soon-to-be-mum, saying that it was better to channel all available energy into the actual birthing process.

As the contraction finally subsided, the girl in the water let out an exhausted groan and rested her forehead on her and Elphaba's joined hands. The green girl cringed slightly as the dampness of Glinda's hair irritated her sensitive skin, but she did not budge.

"Would you like to drink some juice?" she asked softly.

Glinda had no time to answer, for already another contraction hit her full force. She gasped in surprise and the midwife rushed towards the tub. Whimpering, the blonde rocked her hips to ease the pain.

"It… burns."

Angee dipped her hand into the water.

"I can feel the head," she smiled. Then her grin widened as she looked at Elphaba. "Do you want to have a feel?"

The green girl's face fell. Even if she had not been allergic to water, the idea would have hardly seemed any more appealing to her.

"Now listen, darling," the older woman said calmly once Glinda had had a chance to catch her breath, "you're almost there, but when the next contraction sets in, I need you to push as hard as you can. If you wait too long, you'll only get more tired."

Squeezing her wife's hand, Elphaba gave her a fleeting kiss.

"Did you hear that, Glin? It's almost over."

Glinda nodded, bracing herself for the final round.

Another spasm tore through her body and she gave it all she had. Her hands let go of the tub and found her wife's instead. Long, well-manicured nails dug deep into Elphaba's flesh, but the dark-haired girl did not care. If anything, she was glad to be able to share at least a measure of her love's pain. Once again, Glinda's eyes were squeezed shut and this time, so were Elphaba's; both girls' foreheads rested against the other's.

When the blonde crumpled, Elphaba caught her in her arms, by now completely oblivious to the blisters the water caused on her skin. She could feel Glinda's heavy breaths brush past her ear and weak arms slightly tighten around her in search for support.

"The head's out," Angee announced happily and Elphaba could not help but try and catch a glimpse. It was an odd sight, that's for sure.

Then the blonde in her arms suddenly twitched.

"Oh my… Sweet Oz, it's moving!" she exclaimed, somewhat shocked.

Tense and a little uncertain, the expecting mothers remained in their respective positions. After a few moments without any sign of further contractions, Elphaba grew worried.

"What's wrong? Why is it stuck there?"

Another jerk from Glinda told her that the baby was wiggling again.

"Wow, that feels so gross," the smaller girl murmured against her shoulder, albeit much calmer now.

The midwife gave them a reassuring smile.

"Your little one has to turn a bit first before it can come out. But don't worry, the head definitely was the worst part. Just another push and that should be it."

And indeed, one more determined push from Glinda and a little help from the midwife were all it took.

Angee carefully lifted the newborn out of the water and handed it to Glinda, then she grabbed a towel and draped it over the child.

"Oh my!" the blonde gushed, completely in awe. "Just look at that, Elphie. How tiny."

This was one of these very few moments in her life when Elphaba was absolutely lost for words. The picture of her beautiful wife with this small miracle nestled in her arms was marvellous, absolutely stunning. She could have sat there all day, admiring the wee thing as it opened and closed its delicate hands, turned its head and curled its little toes, but instead, she leaned closer to Glinda, planting a long, sweet kiss on her dry lips.

"You were amazing," she whispered and kissed her once more.

Hesitantly, she turned to look at the baby again. It was all wet, of course, but she felt this strong desire to touch the pruned, rosy skin. Her hands slightly shaky, she reached out until her fingertips brushed, ever so lightly, against one of the chubby cheeks. Whenever people had told her about this immediate, unconditional bond between a parent and their new baby, she had had difficulties to really imagine herself falling in love at first sight, even with her own child. But now she was a believer.

"Have you already chosen a name?" Angee asked then and the two women looked at each other.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Glinda asked sheepishly and Elphaba chuckled.

"I didn't look either. I was too enthralled by everything else that I completely forgot to pay any attention to that."

"Let's have a peek then, shall we?" Glinda giggled.

"Ha!" Elphaba burst out, triumphantly. "It's a boy – no pink then!"

"Well, luckily we didn't put all of our eggs in the same basket," the blonde replied with a cheeky grin.

"Do you want to cut the cord?" The midwife interrupted their playful banter and with a quick snip, Elphaba had made her own, humble contribution to their child's delivery.

"Alright. Now I have to borrow this cutie for a moment or two, so I can give him a thorough check-up."

As he was removed from his mother's warm embrace, the boy let out his first squeaky wail and Elphaba nuzzled Glinda's hair, positively beaming.

"Do you think you can help me out of here?" the blonde asked as the cooling water began to make her shiver.

"Sure. Hold on a second."

Still a little unsteady, Glinda rose to her feet and Elphaba wrapped a fresh towel around her before offering her shoulder for her to lean on and climb out of the pool. With wobbly steps, both women made it to the bed were Glinda lay down on the towels they had prepared earlier and Elphaba right beside her.

"This was quite an experience," the green girl admitted quietly and the blonde laughed.

"What am I supposed to say then?"

They looked deep into each other's eyes, their hearts swelling with love.

"Are you still scared?" Glinda asked her wife, gently stroking her well-rounded belly.

"A little."

"You know, as the tougher one of the two of us, you really should have gone first instead of leaving it to me to test the waters. What a mean green thing you are!"

Elphaba smiled apologetically and gave her love a peck on her nose.

"I'm terribly sorry, my sweet. I certainly did not intend to make you my personal guinea pig."

"I might forgive you once you gave birth to our daughter," the blonde said and winked.

Pretending to be genuinely troubled, Elphaba rested her own hand on her baby bump.

"And what of it's another boy?"

"Well, in that case I'll have to think about it. Depends on how cute he is, I suppose."

They laced fingers and chuckled.

"In the meantime… How about you check on the one I just popped out?" Glinda suggested.

Elphaba nodded and clumsily got off the bed. She did not get far, however, before Angee returned with their son in her arms.

"Forty-seven centimetres and two thousand five hundred and twenty grams. He's a bit on the small side, but as a general rule the baby always fits the mother. With your petite frame you really should be glad that you didn't have to push out one of these eight or nine pound monsters, my dear."

"Goodness, no!" Glinda said taken aback as she received the tightly swaddled bundle from the midwife. "I mean, seriously – these poor women."

Elphaba uneasily shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

"Other than that, he is perfectly fine and healthy," Angee told the young mothers. "He has a little bit of jaundice, but that's nothing a proper dose of sunlight can't cure."

Glinda studied the child's features with a thoughtful, perhaps even faintly concerned expression on her face.

"Do you think he looks anything like me?"

The tang of anxiety in her wife's voice worried Elphaba and she carefully sat down beside her on the bed.

"Newborns look like newborns, Glin. I don't think that we'll be able to really tell for a while. But at any rate, he's just as adorable as you are, even if he might turn out to look more like his biological father.

The little boy yawned and snuggled closer to his mother and Elphaba could not help but notice how exhausted both of them looked.

"How much longer until we're done here?" she asked the midwife.

"Well, the placenta should have detached itself by now," the older woman replied, her head slightly tilted to the side. "Glinda, darling, if you want, I can give you an injection to help things along. You clearly have suffered enough for one day."

Already half asleep, the blonde nodded weakly.

The midwife went about her business and when she was done, she gently squeezed Glinda's hand.

"Everything is absolutely fine, dearie. You did a wonderful job and I'm happy to give you two sweethearts some time alone now. But before I go, I just need to complete this form here. So what's his name gonna be?"

"You tell her," the drained blonde told her wife with a listless wave of her hand.

"It's Lux," Elphie informed her, casting a brief glance at the now sleeping child.

Angee seemed disappointed.

"Just 'Lux'?"

Her reaction was somewhat unsettling for the dark-haired girl.

"We thought it sounds rather nice," she said, flustered.

Realising her mistake, the midwife patted her shoulder in a conciliatory manner and laughed.

"But of course it does, dearie! I just expected something a bit more extravagant form Mrs Glinda Arduenna Upland-Thropp."

"Oh," Elphaba exhaled and chuckled. "Well, in that case, you should see her list of girls' names."

"Perhaps we'll need that list next time I see you – in about eight weeks, right?"

"I wouldn't bet on that," the girl on the bed unexpectedly chimed in. "It seems like Elphie is taking her sweet time with this entire pregnancy thing."

"Well, eventually, the little bugger in her belly will run out of space and then there is no turning back," Angee assured them with a toothy grin, while Elphaba herself looked much less enthusiastic.

Then the midwife waved her goodbye and showed herself out of the apartment.

Elphaba plucked Lux from Glinda's arms and put him in the basinet next to the bed before crawling under the comforter next to the blonde.

Folding Glinda in a tight embrace, she asked, "Are you happy?"

"About what? That it's over?" the shorter girl chortled. "Hell yes!"

"I'm sure you are, my sweet," Elphaba smiled and tenderly brushed her lips against her love's shoulder. "But I mean in general. Are you truly happy the way things are now?"

Glinda shuffled under the covers and turned around to face Elphaba. With a content sigh, she snuggled closer.

"I'm surprised you still have to ask, but since you did: yes, I'm very, absolutely and infinitely happy. I'm happy to have you as my ridiculously smart and gorgeous wife, I'm happy that I am able to share all my joy and all my sorrow with you and I'm happy that one of these joyful moments was the birth of our first child."

"I'm glad then," was all Elphaba said in return.

"And now that my part is over, I'm really excited for part two of our becoming-parents-experience," the blonde continued with a mischievous grin on her lips.

"Great, I can hardly bear the wait," Elphaba deadpanned, which elicited an exceedingly gleeful giggle from Glinda. "For now you need to rest, though."

"And that I will," the other girl agreed.

"Fresh dreams, my sweet."

"You, too, Elphie."

After only a few minutes of blissful togetherness, a soft baby whimper could be heard and Glinda stirred. But Elphaba was faster.

"Don't worry, my love. I'll take him," she said and wiggled her way out of the bed; however, not without giving Glinda one more quick kiss.

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**MyLittleElphie's A/N: Hi there, MyLittleElphie here! :)**

**Do you guys sometimes read fanfiction and wonder how it would have turned out if it was one of your own stories? I generally don't, but it's actually something worth thinking about! I knew that Heatqueen and I differ greatly when it comes to our writing styles, but I still thought that the common topic for the stories we wrote was actually quite precise. I expected them to be different - with deeper thoughts and reflections in her version and slightly more detailed descriptions of the physical things going on and perhaps a bit more focus on dialogue on my side - but I never would have guessed that they could be THIS different. Each of us tackled the issue from a completely different angle, so the results are really, really interesting.**

**I hope that we'll get a chance to do this again sometime, because I think that contrasting our two writing styles actually tells me a lot about my own and almost more importantly: This was really a lot of fun! I hope you guys enjoyed this as well and as Heatqueen said before: Let us know what you think and if you have any ideas what else we could write about, just shoot us a PM :D**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	2. OzDust Dance

**Heatqueen's A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed our one-shots. I'm really glad that people generally seem to like the idea of what we're doing. This chapter's style-off is based on the OzDust dance scene. Thanks to Doglover645 for the prompt. Remember, if anyone has any suggestions, please let us know in a review.**

**Here is my version; I hope you enjoy it!**

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**The Recognition Routine**

Elphaba stood in front of the tall, arched door to the OzDust Ballroom, fraught not to admit that she was stalling. From the inside, she could hear the loud beat of music and the many chattering voices of her fellow students.

_What in Oz am I doing here?_

On the way down, she had almost turned around and abandoned the idea several times. She did not _have_ to go to the OzDust dance, nor did she particularly _want_ to; however, Galinda had been so insistent that Elphaba had found her cynicism faltering. Rather than brush off the tiny pink thing with a snide inference of the blonde's two-faced-ness, Elphaba had noted strangely how her hand seemed to move of its own accord, accepting the weird, pointy, black hat and placing it upon her head.

For whatever reason, her pessimistic brain had decided that tonight would be different.

The chilly air was most certainly the reason why her hands shook as she pressed them against the door; the feel of wood beneath her fingers seemed to seal her fate. With an almighty shove, the door swung open easily. She stumbled indelicately inside and slammed it behind her.

Everything stopped.

Through the blue-black, smoky haze, Elphaba saw a thousand menacing stares. In half a second her mistake went from unnoticed to so painfully obvious that she was temporarily dumbstruck at having missed it. Upon this realisation she attempted, at first, to avoid the onset of a dropped stomach and rapidly beating heart in favour of forcing the belief that she felt perfectly fine, that she had expected this all along…

…and failed.

Because she had _not_ expected this even though it came loudly from a distance; even though it was what had happened every single other time she was faced with such a situation. Really she'd had no reason to believe that anything would be different this time, except that Galinda had acted so infuriatingly sweet that it was impossible not to succumb. And succumb she had, despite priding herself on being that one person who could resist any adorable puppy eyes or un-genuine smiles. Somehow she had missed the layer of falseness in Galinda's tone, even though, looking back, it had been right there the whole time, warning her that showing up at the OzDust would be a horrible mistake.

She could almost collapse beneath the weight of the silence that filled the room as more and more people noticed her presence. They were a semicircle of gleeful eyes and twisted grimaces, their faces blurring together in indistinguishable masks of hatred. Elphaba stood before this pack of wolves, a green aberration, a hideous circus act, ready to be ripped to shreds. Judgemental stares were not new to her, but still: the thickness of the warm air, the lack of movement, the tempered giggles, sent needles straight through her heart, and terror through her stomach. Soon the silence would implode and their knife blade mirth would slice through her already tattered self-esteem.

How in Oz was she to get herself out of this one?

Her first instinct said 'Run.' Run and get yourself out of here. Run and put them out of your head. Run and find someplace to cry. Her legs were frozen. Seconds ticked, confusion grew. Eyes watched carefully as the students waited to break down into gleeful merriment. The artichoke would flee, surely; and then they would be free to laugh.

Only Elphaba didn't. That would be backing down.

Within the nasty crowd Elphaba spotted Galinda and Fiyero. She expected to be overcome with revulsion. What she got instead was a prickle of water at the corners of her eyes and a throat that was fast becoming tight and painful. She could barely breathe lest more liquid fall and confirm a display of defeat from her cruel peers' words. Tears would do her no good here. Tears would only add to the humiliation.

She sucked back a sob, inhaling rather louder than was desirable, but nonetheless it was enough to choke back any crying which would have otherwise occurred. She blinked, and glanced towards Galinda and Fiyero again. Through clearer vision she noticed a detail which had passed her by before: She had expected Galinda to be as gleeful as the rest of them, but for whatever reason, the silly blonde's expression was absolutely horrified.

Elphaba's mind went blank. She ripped the hat off her head.

A sly smirk, or childish giggling, or a triumphant smile at such a marvellous success of her ridiculous prank, would have been expected. After all, the combination of Elphaba's diabolical clothing ensemble, the crowds of artichoke haters bearing witness and the immensely shocked silence had worked out so well. Or perhaps Galinda was merely horrified by the sight of her. Most people were anyway.

As the seconds dragged on, Elphaba realised she was going to have to do something, sometime soon, lest she be caught in this moment forever. Well, she had already experienced the worst that could ever happen here, so why not utilise this moment for its actual purpose? People didn't come to the OzDust to stand around staring. They came to dance.

She replaced the hat upon her head. In that case, dance she would.

She wasn't a graceful girl and no one had ever bothered to teach her any steps; nor had she ever been given the confidence to experiment for herself in the darkness of a dance floor with the safety of an alcohol blanket. Her movements were restricted to walking, running and curling up in a tight ball at night – nothing to be thought too much of – but now that she was faced with having to move herself in a particular way, she wished with all her heart that she'd paid more attention. One ungainly arm jerked forward and her body stumbled into a weird twist: her mind so very conscious of how stupid she must look; her body playing the part of a girl who didn't care. The silence dissolved into badly stifled chuckles and barely hushed questions:

Why was she here?

What in Oz did she think she was doing?

Why didn't she leave and save everyone the awkwardness of watching her humiliate herself?

Indeed, Elphaba began to think similar things. Each graceless gesture, each attempt to downplay the situation, only caused yet more humiliation. She should just leave. She should have left in the first place. Her jagged, unsure movements froze. _Leave,_ her mind said, yet her feet remained rooted to the floor.

_I won't. _Another jerk. _I won't concede._ And another.

Then, a tap on her shoulder. She thought she imagined it.

But the eyes of her tormentors had flicked elsewhere and were watching curiously as the event turned in a new direction. Before her, scared blue eyes were staring up at her. Creamy ringlets bouncing around pale, soft shoulders. A demeanour of hesitation.

A simple question-

'May I cut in?'

-reverberating loud and clear through the silence, and then fading into tense stillness.

Galinda Upland, asking her to dance.

No, Galinda Upland, asking to dance with _her._

There were no words; only hitched breath and a jerk of her head: Yes. Because really, Galinda was only doing this to mock her further; so why not let her? Let the popular girl dance with her and make a spectacle out of her. Let her become lauded for her bravery and goodliness at being the one to dare to dance with the artichoke. Why not?

Then, the little pink thing started to dance; her movements not broken-machine-like like Elphaba's, but slow and progressive like an opening rosebud. Elphaba, plus the hundreds of other staring faces, could only watch as Galinda contorted herself in a manner which seemed to come so naturally; it was as if she had been born dancing, like she was meant to spend her life creating such riveting shapes with her body. Suddenly the joke aspect of the situation was entirely lost as the girl presented herself with sincerity.

What in Oz was going on?

Elphaba was torn from her position of standing there gaping when Galinda stepped up to her, looked straight into her eyes and began to repeat the little routine. Why, why did she do this? Where was the onset of torment that Elphaba had expected? Where were the raucous giggles and unabashed pointing and debilitating snide remarks of their audience? Why was Galinda gesturing her to join in?

Her mind spun. Arms lifted of their own accord, mirroring Galinda's little routine. A dark, confused gaze met apologetic blue irises.

The music returned slowly, washing away the tension rather than collapsing it. All of a sudden, the rest of it became irrelevant: it was no longer a case of two girls of severely unequal standing, or the beautiful girl versus the green girl, or the popular queen versus the bitter, grumpy loner. Tonight they were one and the same. Two girls dancing, that was all.

Two girls slowly accepting each other.

And thus, the rest of the student body accepted them. _Them,_ as a pair, not just Galinda. Perhaps they were still cautious of the green girl alone, but Galinda had given her blessing so they had no choice but to do the same. The stillness broke. People started to move. Galinda took Elphaba's hand and tugged her into the crowd.

The dance resumed.

* * *

**MyLittleElphie's A/N:**

**Alright… here is my version of the Ozdust scene!**

**Due to my writing style, the first bit might seem like simple retelling, but please bear with it (or skip it if you really have to). The story does still have a more original element to it, as you will see a bit later ;)**

**Happy reading!**

**MLE :3**

* * *

The party at the Ozdust was in full swing and Galinda was the undisputed star of the evening. Her dress was a dream in bright pink – a bold fashion choice when almost everyone else was wearing ensembles of black and white, but if anyone could pull it off, then it was Galinda Upland (of the Upper Uplands). And why would she want to blend in if she had a chance to stand out? This was all the more true since her partner that night was no other than Fiyero Tiggular, scandalacious party prince extraordinaire. Shiz's honorary princess and the Prince of the Vinkus; everyone in the crowded ballroom who saw them dancing together would have agreed: they simply deserved each other.

Gracefully, they swayed to the rhythm of the romantic tune that was playing. Her head rested against his shoulder and he held her close enough for her to hear his heart beating. When the music changed to something more upbeat, their dancing picked up speed as well. The lights and colours around them became blurry as he twirled and whirled her around the dance floor, making the skirt of her dress fly. Dancing with the prince was a wonderful, maybe even mind-blowing experience and she was sure that this was what true love must feel like.

A little later, his hands were gently resting on her hips and she was gazing up into his breath-taking, blue eyes that were just a few shades darker than her own, waiting for him to lower his head for their first kiss. She knew that it would happen any clock-tick and her breath quickened at the mere thought of it. Unfortunately, this special moment was interrupted by the headshiztress, who was briskly approaching the couple.

"Miss Upland," her irritating voice rang and the blonde already saw her evening ruined.

"Madame Morrible, what are you doing here?" she asked, praying that the head was not going to tell her off for whatever essay she had forgotten to hand in or failed at.

However, it was nothing of that sort. Instead of admonishment, Galinda received a training wand, courtesy of – and this came as a real shock – her unusually and exceedingly peculiar, green roommate Miss Elphaba.

Absolutely perplexed, she returned to Fiyero.

"What is it?" he asked when he saw the uncharacteristic frown on her forehead and she quickly shook her head, her golden curls bouncing.

"Nothing. I got what I wanted."

Flashing her his brilliant trademark smile, he held out his hand.

"Good. Let's dance."

She mirrored his smile and gladly accepted his invitation.

For a few beats, they once more lost themselves in the excitement and thrill of the dance, as well as each other's eyes - until the music unexpectedly stopped.

The entire Ozdust had lapsed into silence, save for a few scandalized gasps and some nervous snickering. Following her peers' gazes, Galinda's eyes finally fixated on the scrawny figure that had just entered the room. It was Elphaba, as green as ever, with her hair in this typical, austere braid of hers and in a baggy, unbecoming dress that looked very much like the one she had been wearing all day. The icing on the cake, however, was the hat. The blonde recognised it at once, for it had been her who had given this black, pointy monstrosity to her roomie.

It had been nothing but a silly joke and quite frankly, Galinda had not given it too much thought at the time. Not in her wildest dreams would she have expected that the obnoxious girl would actually show up for the party. But now that she had, a strange feeling began to build up in the pit of the blonde's stomach. She anxiously fiddled with the training wand in her hands, her eyes downcast and she realised that she somehow felt bad for the artichoke.

"Who in Oz is that?" Fiyero asked, less repulsed than the others, but greatly amused by Elphaba's awkward entrance.

"My roommate," Galinda murmured her reply. "Please don't stare."

But the prince shook his head and chuckled.

"How can you help it?"

The whispers and the murmuring were growing louder now and when Glinda looked up again, she saw Elphaba snatch the ridiculous hat off her head. For a moment, the green girl stood frozen, humiliation written in capital letters all over her face. Then she took her first step down the stairs and then the next. The other students shrunk away from her as though touching the unfortunate thing could infect them with her greenness. They huddled together in the furthest corners of the room, pressed against the walls.

Elphaba galumphed across the dance floor, heading straight for the centre, where the spotlight was waiting for her. Like a deer in the headlights, she looked disorientated at first, but after a few shaky breaths, her jaw clenched and defiance began to show on her sharp features. She let her gaze wander, trying to stare down the mocking crowd. Determined, she popped the hideoteous hat back on her head and cast one last obstinate look at Galinda, who nervously began to chew her glossy, pink lower lip.

She began to jerk her arms around in choppy, arrhythmic movements. Her body swayed with the grace of a dying Rhinoceros and her face was contorted into a grotesque grimace. When her feet finally joined in, Elphaba nearly stumbled and fell, but miraculously regained her balance – although Glinda wasn't quite sure whether that was for the better or the worse, for in her case, a fall might have saved her from further, far worse embarrassment.

"I'll say this much for her," Fiyero said nonchalantly, "she doesn't give a twig about what anyone else thinks."

The blonde clinging to his arm slowly shook her head.

"Of course she does. She just pretends not to."

Her eyes remained trained on the lanky girl in the middle of the room as she threw in a clumsy pirouette, almost dropping her hat. In a very odd and bizarre way, she admired Elphaba's strength. No one she knew would be able to go through such humiliation and live to tell the tale. Most would probably melt on the spot.

"I feel awful," she admitted to Fiyero.

Frowning, the boy looked down at her and asked, "Why? It's not like it's your fault."

He did not know, of course, that it was very much her fault and even if he did, Galinda highly doubted that he would truly care. But for one crazy reason or another, _she_ began to care. Somehow, Galinda found the green bean's waywardness rather inspiring and it woke a burning desire in her chest to be a little less like her socialite friends and a little more like her.

In that moment, she made a decision. Hesitantly, she passed her new training wand to Fiyero.

"Excuse me."

She pulled back her shoulders and drew herself up to her full height, her chin jutting forward. As she took her first tentative step towards the centre of the room, she told herself to stop thinking and simply do, because all she could think about was that she was going to make an absolute fool out of herself and that this one dance could easily mean the end of her career as the most popular girl at Shiz.

She played it cool, unswervingly putting one foot in front of the other while everyone else was left staring, breath caught in their throats. Thankfully, nobody dared to giggle or even laugh. At least not yet. Contrary to what she had hoped, this was not getting any easier the closer she got to her destination. Once or twice, she was about to falter, but now that all eyes were on her, retreating was no longer an option.

After a seemingly endless journey, she came to stand right beside Elphaba. She cleared her throat, but the verdigris girl either ignored her or genuinely had not yet noticed her presence. When Galinda lightly tapped her on the bare, green shoulder, the other girl jumped and bobbed her head to look at her in disbelieve.

"May I cut in?" she asked, sounding not quite as confident as she had aimed to.

Her roommate wordlessly stared back at her, her expression unreadable.

To demonstrate goodwill, the blonde began imitating the green girl's strange moves. Surprisingly, they felt not all that awkward when executed with a touch of grace. She never broke eye contact with Elphaba, searching for a glimmer of trust; however, the dark brown orbs betrayed no emotions. Perhaps her attempt at salvaging the situation would remain fruitless, she thought and almost gave up, when Elphaba, suddenly, took a step aside and motioned for Galinda to take her place in the spotlight.

Unsure whether this was a trap, a dare or a peace offering, the high society girl cast a few uncertain looks at the crowd. She spotted Fiyero, who was watching her with raised eyebrows and then her friends – Pfannee, Milla and Shenshen – all three of them appearing absolutely mortified.

But she did it anyway. Whether it was because she wanted to prove to herself that she was strong-willed enough to withstand the pressure or whether she did it because it was the right thing to do, didn't really matter. What mattered was that she didn't turn back and took this final, risky step.

She gave the band a brief nod and as soon as the pianist's fingers began to dance over the ivory keys, Galinda began to dance as well, waving and twiddling her arms, still reproducing Elphaba's motions, but adding her own, far more elegant flavour. With every beat, she became more confident and eventually, she lost herself in this unusual dance. She was floating across the floor with slow, flowing movements. After a graceful turn, she briefly locked eyes with Shenshen, who was shaking her head and seemed to mouth _'What are you doing?' _or something along those lines. But she averted her gaze and continued, unperturbed.

After a while, she decided that she had sufficiently proven herself – now it was the green girl's turn. Galinda twirled around and fixated Elphaba with a firm, but by no means hostile stare. She began dancing again, every delicate motion an invitation for the other girl to join her.

And join she did.

The blonde's face lit up when her roomie began moving along, timid at first, but gradually becoming more daring. When Galinda realised how Elphaba was studying and quickly implementing the subtle changes she had made, the biggest smile appeared on her beautiful face. Even Elphaba, as awkward and clumsy as she was, was somehow enthralling to look at when she carried her body this way.

They were now dancing very close to each other - _with_ each other - putting aside their differences and disagreements and forgetting the sceptical horde of students around them. There was only them, two girls as unlike as can be, but strangely connected as bright, blue eyes looked deep into warm, brown ones, speckled with mica. Galinda felt like she was truly seeing Elphaba for the first time and for reasons she could not comprehend, she was drawn to the peculiar emerald misfit. She longed to be close to her, to learn whatever there was to know about her and ultimately, to understand her. She was going to make the prickly, green thing _her_ 'Elphie'_._

The past few minutes had felt like hours, packed with enough thoughts, impressions and emotions to fill a lifetime. But as all dances, this one also came to an end. When the last note of the number died away, the spell between the two girls was broken. Only then, they realised that the other students had come nearer. In fact, without even noticing it, they had been dancing in the centre, while everyone else had been moving around them, adopting their new dance steps. Galinda grinned and took her roomie's hands, tugging, pulling and whirling her along as soon as the next, much zippier piece began.

They spent the rest of the evening dancing and laughing like dear, old friends, not even thinking about returning to their bleak, boring dorm room until they were the last pair left and the staff already had begun to clean up the mess their peers had made. Fiyero, who, all but forgotten, had fallen asleep on a chair in a corner, stirred when he received a nudge with the manager's broomstick and slowly staggered to his feet. He walked the two girls to their dormitory, but probably must have wondered why he even bothered, for they only seemed to have eyes for each other.

* * *

Galinda woke to the relentless chirping of a particularly determined sparrow right outside the window of her and Elphaba's dorm room. The curtains had already been drawn back and the glaring midday sun made her squeeze her eyes shut almost the instant she first opened them. After blinking a few times, she was able to see and turned her head to look in the general direction of Elphaba's bed. It was empty, of course - the green girl never slept past sunrise. The chair at her desk and the bathroom were empty as well though, and Galinda heaved a heavy sigh.

She remembered her dream in such vivid colours and detail that it almost hurt to wake up and let go of this perfect fantasy, forced to accept the dull, dismal truth. The worst was that it was all her fault. After seeing everything so clearly in her dream, she was convinced that this was exactly the way it would have been if she had only had had the courage to let it happen. But she had been too weak, too scared and too concerned about other people's opinion of her to change her and the green girl's fate.

She wished she could have made it up to Elphie – yes, the nickname she had given her roomie in her dream still stuck – and saved her from all the humiliation she had faced. But that's not what had happened. What had happened, was the following:

Elphaba had shown up – hideoteous hat and all – and performed her jerky, gawky dance. Initially, the crowd had stared speechlessly, only a few snickers and whispers mixed into the silence. Galinda had felt awful. The problem was not only that her roommate was the one who had secured that place in Madame Morrible's sorcery class for her; even if she had done nothing of the sort, the blonde would still have realised that Elphaba didn't deserve to be treated with such crude cruelty. But despite all this, she had remained standing next to her prince charming, eyes glued to the ground as the laughter and sneers around Shiz's resident artichoke had became louder and louder. Elphaba had stumbled a few times, tumbling towards the surrounding onlookers, who would just give her a hefty push, sending her back into the glaring spotlight.

After some time, an upset, strained voice had ripped through the commotion on the dance floor.

"That's enough," the unfortunate girl in the wheelchair – Elphaba's sister – had bellowed. It had been quite obvious though, that she had meant her older sibling and not the mocking crowd. Angry eyes had glared at the green girl, until a sharp movement of the younger girl's chin finally commanded her to leave. Together, the Thropp sisters had left the Ozdust and the party had resumed as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

Fiyero had asked her to dance again and she had tried, but ultimately failed to enjoy it. Complaining about a terrible headache, she had excused herself, not even insisting on being accompanied back to Crage Hall. By the time she had arrived, Elphaba had already been lying in her bed, facing the wall. Galinda had doubted that she was actually sleeping, but had decided that this was not the right time to try and talk to her. Staring at her roomie's unmoving form in the dark, she had truly regretted her incapability to withstand the pressure, feeling that she was missing out on something absolutely wonderful. She had quickly changed into her nightclothes and slipped under the plush comforter, yet it had been difficult for her to all asleep. Eventually, however, the prospect of being able to apologise the following day had soothed her just enough to allow her heavy eyelids to flutter shut.

* * *

It was Sunday, which meant that Galinda had no real opportunity or excuse to meet Elphaba outside their shared room, so she decided that it might be the best idea to distract her troubled mind with some serious shopping. Their talk would have to wait until after the bookish girl's return from her full-day trip to the library.

Flouncing in and out of the countless boutiques of inner Shiz, she discoverated a beautiful hat that she thought would look absolutely stunning on her roomie's head. But she did not dare buy it, since Elphaba would surely take it as her next attempt to mock her. Before she left the shop, she made a mental note to return once mission _'Befriending Elphie' _had been completed. Perhaps, she could convince Elphaba to get over her hat trauma if she only tried hard enough. For the time being, she settled on a pink flower, much like the one she had worn the previous night. She had given the matter much thought and decided that pink does indeed go quite good with green.

The late afternoon turned into evening and finally night, but the green girl was still nowhere in sight. '_So it's official_,' Galinda thought to herself, '_she's avoiding me_.' She vented a frustrated sigh and began to prepare for bed. Around quarter to twelve, she gave up and resolved to try and catch a snatch of sleep. Although usually sleeping like a log, the blonde for once managed to maintain a certain state of semi-awareness, hoping that Elphaba would rock up sooner or later.

When at last she did, the bell in the clock tower had just chimed three times.

Because Galinda had left the curtains open for her and plenty of moonlight was flooding the room, Elphaba made a beeline for her wardrobe without even turning on the light on her bedside table. Certain that the other girl was fast asleep, she shimmied off her dress before looking for a fresh nightgown.

Woken by the shuffling of heavy boots and rustling of clothing, Galinda lazily opened one eye. The other one soon popped open as well, when she spotted her roommate by her wardrobe. Dreamily, her eyes raked over the bare, green back bathed in the light of the bright full moon. Galinda admired the smooth, glowing skin and the play of the toned muscles underneath. Her head was far too meddled with sleep to blush at the otherwise overwhelming amount of naked, emerald skin.

"Elphie?" she said stifling a yawn and propped herself up on her elbows.

The green girl froze. After a brief moment of shock, she grabbed the next best piece of garment she could find, threw it over and rushed hotfoot to her bed without as much as giving Galinda a single glance.

* * *

By the time Galinda first stirred the next morning, Elphaba was gone again. The blonde was not the least bit surprised and this time she did not really mind either, since they would have at least two classes together. She took her sweet time as she went through her daily morning routine – and for a good reason. Finally all dolled up, she left for the first lecture of the day: history.

Just in the nick of time, she slipped through the double doors of the auditorium. A satisfied smirk played at the corners of her lips when she saw that Doctor Dillamond had not yet arrived and it widened to a bright, toothy smile when she found Elphaba sitting on her usual spot in the middle of the front row. Almost skipping, she scurried past Fiyero and past her confused friends Milla and Shenshen, heading for the seat next to her roommate.

When she carefully removed Elphaba's satchel from the chair and, without missing a beat, plonked herself down on it, she received a look of pure disbelieve from the green girl. Pleased with herself, Galinda proceeded to unpacking her materials, while her desk neighbour began to stuff her books, pencils, quills and notebooks back into her bag. The blonde watched her out of the corners of her eyes. Luckily she had planned ahead. Just in the exact moment that Elphaba rose to her feet, Doctor Dillamond stepped into the room. The green girl's face fell and groaning, she sunk back into her seat.

Galinda was delighted with her small victory, yet she knew that there was still a lot of work ahead of her. For the next three hours, however, Elphaba and her would not even be in the same building, which put a small damper on her mood.

The next opportunity to get closer to the emerald girl presented itself at lunch time, when she decided to pay the cafeteria a brief visit to grab some takeaways, but changed her mind immediately, once she spotted Elphaba in one of the corners. As always, the terribly self-denying girl had opted for the most inexpensive item on the weekly menu. The soup of the day was a watery spinach lentil stew and Elphaba spooned it with great indifference while burrowing her sharp nose in some old book.

The sight was quite disconcerting for Galinda and so she paid for an extra bowl of dessert and unceremoniously put it on the table in front of her roommate, before sitting down next to her. Elphaba had a quick peek, but hastily made to hide behind her book again.

"This is for you," the shorter girl clarified, a little irritated.

Without showing her face again, Elphaba murmured, "I'm allergic to strawberries."

Bewildered, Galinda stared at the mouth-wateringly divine strawberry custard. No one is allergic to strawberries, she decided at last, but when she looked back up, the obnoxious green girl was gone again.

After a two-hour gap, their next class was sorcery. Despite being the only students in this seminar, there was frustratingly little room for chitchat and by the end of the session, Galinda had exchanged barely three words with her classmate. Since she was new to this class and had plenty to catch up on, Madame Morrible made her stay a little longer, while for Elphaba, it was time to disappear in the library for the rest of the day.

Finding the seemingly simple tasks the headshiztress told her to complete more difficult than she had anticipated, one hour of extra tutoring easily became three and when Morrible had finally had enough of her, dusk was already falling.

On her way back to the dorm, she walked past the library, hoping against hope to catch a glimpse of Elphaba. Usually, it would have been far too early for the bookworm to crawl out of her hideout between the dusty shelves, but whether it was mere luck, or perhaps the green girl's lack of sleep due to her late return the night before, Galinda arrived just on time, to see her roomie leave the building, balancing a huge stack of books. Stealthily, she began to follow her, trailing a couple of yards behind.

A large group of third year students came filing out of the politics building and Glinda could see how all of them gave the green girl a wide berth. It was quite ridiculous, really, and also somehow sad. Yet there was one small gang of boys who did not even try to evade her. Instead, they walked so close, that one of them roughly jostled against her, knocking over the pile of books.

"Look where you're going," another boy said, spitting in front of her feet.

The blonde had watched the scene with disbelief and rage. She was especially angry with herself for the way she had treated Elphaba up until the previous day. Never before, had she considered, how many people were out to simply make the green girl's life miserable.

She rushed to help Elphaba pick up the books. The taller girl had growled at her, but made no attempt to stop her. Only once they had turned around a corner, out of the other students' sight, did a strong, green hand grab the petite blonde and push her against the nearest wall, sending the books flying again.

"Why do you suddenly keep forcing yourself onto me?" Elphaba hissed, her eyes narrowed to thin slits. "And in front of everyone? What in Oz is going on in this blissful, blonde brain of yours?"

Galinda's eyes were as wide as saucers. Too busy to secretly admire and thinking of a way to befriend the odd thing, she had completely forgotten how scary she could be.

"I… I… Yesterday, the Ozdust. I just wanted to say sorry and make it up to you," she stammered.

Elphaba's grip loosened a little and taking a deep breath, she averted her sharp eyes.

"I don't blame you, you know?" she said unexpectedly softly. "I blame myself. I really should have seen it coming."

She let go of Galinda and kneeled down to collect her books again. Despite what had just happened, Galinda once more bent down to help her with that. Brown eyes cast her a questioning look, but this time, Elphaba simply let her walk beside her without any further incident.

* * *

As the next weekend came around, Galinda – all primmed up – bounced up and down on her bed while Elphaba was reading her life science textbook. She was uncharacteristically nervous, wondering how to take the next step. She remembered the pink flower she had bought the week before and a grin appeared on her face when she suddenly had an idea.

"Um, Elphie…?"

The green girl lowered her book just enough to throw a brief, puzzled look at the bubbly girl on the opposite side of the room.

"Is it all right if I call you Elphie?"

Elphie rolled her eyes and flipped the page.

"It's a little perky," she replied monotonously, but the shorter girl giggled gleefully and clapped her hands.

"And you can call me: Ga-lin-da."

More giggling followed.

"Elphie? Now that we're friends, I've decided to make you my new project."

For the longest while there was no response from the green girl, but the blonde could see her shift anxiously.

"You really don't have to do that," the hesitant reply came a few minutes later.

Galinda was relieved, for she had been half afraid that Elphaba would get annoyed or even angry; especially, since _technically,_ they were not even real friends yet. Caught on the wrong foot, her roommate could get upset by the simplest things and storm out of the dorm within seconds. But today she seemed to be in a comparatively good mood and Galinda's eyes began to light up.

"I know," she replied happily, "that's what makes me so nice."


End file.
